Annex C: Definitions of research and impact for the REF
Definition of research for the REF
1.
For the purposes of the REF, research is defined as a process of investigation leading to
new insights, effectively shared.
2.
It
includes
work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, culture,
society, and to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship
20
; the invention and generation
of ideas, images, performances, artefacts including design, where these lead to new
or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental
development to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and
processes, including design and construction. It excludes routine testing and routine
analysis of materials, components and processes such as for the maintenance of national
standards, as distinct from the development of new analytical techniques. It also
excludes
the development of teaching materials that do not embody original research.
3.
It
includes
research that is published, disseminated or made publicly available in the
form of assessable research outputs, and confidential reports (as defined in paragraph 261).
Definition of impact for the REF
4.
For the purposes of the REF, impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the
economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life,
beyond academia (as set out in paragraph 7).
5.
Impact
includes
, but is not limited to, an effect on, change or benefit to:
•
the activity, attitude, awareness, behaviour, capacity, opportunity, performance,
policy, practice, process or understanding
•
of an audience, beneficiary, community, constituency, organisation or individuals
•
in any geographic location whether locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.
6.
Impact
includes
the reduction or prevention of harm, risk, cost or other negative
effects.
7.
For the purposes of the impact element of the REF:
a.
Impacts on research or the advancement of academic knowledge within the HE
sector (whether in the UK or internationally) are
excluded
. (The submitted unit’s
contribution to academic research and knowledge is assessed within the ‘outputs’
and ‘environment’ elements of REF.)
b.
Impacts on students, teaching or other activities both within and beyond the
submitting HEI are
included
(see the ‘Panel criteria’, paragraphs 301 to 302).
20.
Scholarship for the REF is defined as the creation, development and maintenance of the intellectual
infrastructure of subjects and disciplines, in forms such as dictionaries, scholarly editions, catalogues and
contributions to major research databases.